St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-01
AN INJUN TALE.
The Kind of Stuff the Able-Bodied
Romancers Feed the Incredu-
I~,,.

Ious People OF the East.
Special to the Globe
WASHINGTON, Sept. 30.-A gentleman
who signs his initials 81. b. o. writes
as follows to local paper here concern
ing the noble red man:
In 1881 was hunting some lost horses in
the broken country west of the Big Horn
river l had ridden all the morning over
country that was strange to me. About IL
O'Clock crossed plateau and was surprised
to come suddenly to the edge of a canon,
the existence of which had not suspected.
In the canon was a stream with clumps of
cottonwood timber along its banks and in
one of the open spaces was an Indian lodge.
The Indians that hunted in this country were
peaceable, but the war was just over and the
Sioux were feeling rather sore. If they were
Crows or Arapahoes l might get some in
downs and a9 Watched No Smoke cam ns
from the tepee; no one moved around
it: half dozen ponies grazed a few hundred
yards distant. There was not even dog,
which looked rather suspicious After wait
ing five minutes knew no more than at first.
Suddenly three white tailed deer came from
the timber and walked leisurely across the
opening. Then knew that the camp was
deserted, and the strangeness of it startled
me. mounted and rode down to the creek,
and straight to the tepee. l threw back the
flap, and shall remember what 1 saw until
death. In the center of the tepee was spread
a. DuHdlO TODe dIu Oh tic rune were guns anu
scalps and many arrows; and there was also
food done up as for a Journeys: and, sitting
cross-legged in a circle around the robe, were
six braves of the Sioux nation. All were in
, their prime-all decked out in war paint and
each one held bow and arrow in his hand.
On every face was an expression of calm in
difference. as of one who neither suffers nor
enjoys, neither hopes nor fears The faces
were those of dead men, and the smallpox
had marked them with it's awful mark. They
took their misery with their heads up, and
even the horrors of this disease could leave
upon their hearts no stain of fear, upon their
browS no mark of suffering. And this that
their God might judge them men, and fit
them to pitch their camps forever in the
groves and green fields of Paradise.
THEREFORE,, LET IT BE ARGUED,
since the red man is such noble man,
such fearless hero, defiant of death,
indifferent to suffering, picturesque and
beautiful in death; argal. let him re-
main on his reservation. and let there
he no allotment of lands in severalty.
1t would be safe to bet ten to one that
the above story is all made out of whole
cloth. The writer was surprised to
come suddenly to the edge of canon,
the existence of which he had not even
Suspected" He found an even half
dozen Sioux sitting there dead. They
were stiff backbOned fellows, evidently.
Smallpox usually leaves its victims that
way. ;. The loatheSome disease ordinarily
leaves ION every face an expression of
something more upon the face of small
pox victim than san expression of calm
indifference. as of one who neither suf-
fers nor enjoys" Attention is called to
this story because the readers of the
GLOBE who know what an Indian is,
and who have seen smallpox, may see
what liars there are in the East, even
near the dome of the capitol.
THE ONLY NEEDED ADJUNCT TO THIS
STORY
is, weeping Indian princess, and
faithful dog bowling all night long, and
moaning all day, for several years. BY
the romantic lie quoted above is the
SANDER upon the Indian dog. Some
where in the vicinity of that tepee there
should have been at least one dog; and,
for half dozen defunct Small-pOXy
braves there might have been score of
faithful dogs thrown in to make the
story complete. Before expanding it
into yellOw-coyered novel, the author
ought to work up good description of
the Indian princess, several dogs, and
few more Whitehall deer. He should eX-
plain to the gentle and fastidiOuS reader
that those deer smelled decayed Indian
from afar, and as there is nothing that
will so attract Whitehall deer as real
dead decOmposed Indian, of course
these deer came in the nick of time to
explain to the white man that it would
be safe for him to come from his watch
tower and take a Whit of them too. He
ought to have several army wagons
with him, load the noble red men into
it, convey them to the nearest fort and
give them military burial, and then
marry the princess. who would, after
marriage, conduct him to the treasure
caves of her tribe whence they would
emerge as Monte Cristo and Haidee.
With these slight additions the story of
the romancer would be very good in
dppI